
FT MEADE 
GenCol1 


A 


rLuv^ER AND 
BERRY BABIES 


By Edna Cjroff (Deifif 
JUustmtedbyVera Stone 



AUNTESTESSTOMES 

















































































































Aunt Este’s Stories 

of the 

Flower and Berry Babies 


LIBRARY OF 
“JUST RIGHT BOOKS” 

The Tiddly Winks 
Open Air Stories 
Surprise Stories 
Gingerbread Boy 
The Party Twins 
Doll Land Stories 
The Treasure Twins 
Tale of Curly Tail 
Washington’s Boyhood 
Reading Time Stories 
Comical Circus Stories 
Knowledge Primer Games 
Real Out-of-Door Stories 
Jolly Polly and Curly Tail 
Fifty Funny Animal Tales 
The Flower and Berry Babies 
In and Out-Door Playgames 
A Child’s Garden of Verses 
Busy Fingers Drawing Primer 
Happy Manikin in Manners Town 
The Vegetable and Fruit Children 
The Dinner That Was Always 
There 

Six Tiddly Winks and The A to 
Zees 



Published by 


ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY 

Chicago, U. S. A. 






“Oh, Look Here ” 


Cried the Little Girls 

(The Three Obliging Little Berries) 


AUG 11 1923 






































AUNT ESTES STORIESa/rfe 

FLOWERAND 

BERRY BABIES 




















FLOWER AND BERRY BABIES 

Copyright, 1923, by Albert Whitman & Company, Chicago, U. S. A. 



“All 1 Want Is the Soda Glass,” Said Black 

(The Raspberries’ Doctor) 


A JUST RIGHT BOOK 
MADE IN THE U. S. A. 




©C1A752429 












PREFACE 

This attractive book of delightful stories of 
Flowers and Berries will keep up the greatest 
attention of all the children. 

Useful facts bearing on the origin and growth 
of these plants are related in a merry manner. 

The reader of books for children will find in 
these jolly stories all elements essential for enter¬ 
tainment, adventure and knowledge. 

An Easy Reading Book for the child’s library 
that will always please. 


The Publishers 






CONTENTS 


The Flower Babies. 

The Brave Violet. 

The Arbutus. (The Flowers’ Scare.) 

The Flowers’ Baby Show. (Garden Flowers.) 
Easter Flowers. (Easter Lily’s Sermon.) 

Johnny Jump-up and Giant Sun-Flower. 

Roses. (The Pink Roses of Bush House.) 

The Berry Babies. 

Mountain Berries (The Berries Race.) 

Currant and Gooseberry. (Reddy Currant and 
her Country Cousin, Gooseberry.) 

Raspberries (Dr. Snowy Tree Cricket and the 
Sick Raspberries.) 

Blackberries (The three obliging little berries.) 
Mulberries (The tale of the Mulberry Tree.) 
Elderberry (The old woman who lived on a 
stem.) 


Other Berries Were Quite Popular 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

“Oh Look,” Cried the Little Girls.Frontispiece 

They Heard the Tale Biggey Mulberry Told.Page 8 

I Want to Hear My Friend. “ 11 

Girls Wearing Pink and White Sun Bonnets. “ 13 

At the Root Telephone. “ 23 

Little Arbutus Wandered Away. “ 25 

Bugville Turned Out and Stood Along the Walk. “ 27 

My Dear Easter is Coming. “ 37 

Easter is Not to Show Off Our Clothes. “ 43 

He Will Not Look North. “ 45 

It Had Beautiful Green Shutters and a Quaint Thorn Fire 

Escape . “ 53 

I Am Going to Take You to My Grandmother. “ 58 

Pretty Red Flowers. “ 60 

A Red Juicy Strawberry. “ 67 

My Dear Cousin Gooseberry. “ 69 

She Knew Lots of Good Games to Play. “ 75 

Good Afternoon Mrs. Raspberry. “ 77 

They Found This Sign. “ 83 

Here Comes Three Little Girls. “ 87 

They Dried Up and Blew Away. “ 93 

Then the Little Elderberry Children Coaxed for a Story. “ 95 

Darning One Thousand Pairs of Stockings. “ 104 
























































































They Heard the Tale Biggey Mulberry Told 

(The Tale of the Mulberry Tree) 








































































































































































































AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 

of the 

BERRY AND FLOWER BABIES 


Brave Violet. 

Once upon a time in Mother Na¬ 
ture’s winter home, Under- 
the-Ground, the flowers were getting 
very restless. You see it was nearly 
spring, and they had been sleeping all 
through the winter. It is good enough 
to have to sleep all night — but all 
winter! No wonder they were lively. 


10 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


It is true during the first month of 
winter, they had thought their warm, 
brown earth bed very comfortable; it 
is true in the first few months, the 
dark earth room, in which they slept, 
was very soothing to their tired eyes, 
which had grown weak looking into 
the face of Uncle Sun through a long 
summer; it is true their warm, white 
snow comfortable had felt very cozy 
and cuddly at first, but now they were 
beginning to feel as little girls and 
boys do when morning peeps in at the 
window, and “kick” fly the covers, 
and “patter” come little feet. My, 
but the flowers wanted to kick off that 
brown earth cover! My, but they 
wanted to crawl out over the top of 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


11 


that warm, white comfortable! My, 
but they wanted to be kissed by the 
Rain Children once again.” 



“It seems an age since we have heard 
the song of Red Robin,” sighed Red 
Rose. 




12 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“I want to hear my friend the Blue 
Bird,” said Saucy Red Glover. 

“Dear me, how long is it since we 
have played hide and seek with the 
big brown cows?” asked White Daisy. 

“My!” said dainty Yellow Butter¬ 
cup, “I hope to see a pink sun-bonnet, 
and have one of those earth children 
say ‘Oh, you pretty Buttercup’. ” 

Suddenly one of the flowers said, 
“Let’s stretch our necks, and put our 
noses out in the air. Let’s see what 
is going on.” 

So one and all stretched until they 
reached the surface. But as soon as 
the cold air struck their faces they 
pulled right back into the warm earth 
room. 





Are the Little Girls IF earing Their Pink and White Sunbonnets? 


13 






















14 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“Oh!” said one and all. “It is 
so cold.” 

“I am afraid I will freeze if I go out.” 
said Red Rose. “And I may get my 
beautiful, red dress all soiled in the 
early Spring slush. But I do so want 
to see Robin.” 

“I cannot go out,” said Red Ger¬ 
anium. “I might take a cold, and 
then my nose would be redder than it 
is, but I should like to know whether 
Blue Bird has come back.” 

“I cannot go out,” said Daisy. “My 
eyes would get all pasted shut with the 
cold, and I could not see. I am afraid 
I might freeze, and the cows would 
find me right away, but I should like 
to know whether they are in pasture.” 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


15 


“I cannot go out,” said Yellow But¬ 
tercup. “I wish I could for I should 
like to know whether the little girls 
have yet put on their pink and white 
sun-bonnets. I believe none of us are 
big enough to crawl out and fight Jack 
Frost. We had better all crawl back 
into bed.” 

“Peep, peep,” said a little voice. 
“I’ll go out. I’ll put on my purple 
cloak, and keep myself well bundled, 
until I see whether Uncle Sun will 
keep me from freezing.” 

“Why Violet!” said one of the flow¬ 
ers. *‘You dare not go out. You are 
too small. You will be scared by the 
wind.” 




16 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“Not I!” said Violet. “I will see 
whether Robin and Blue Bird are back. 
I will see whether Bossy Cow is in 
pasture. I will see whether the earth 
children have put away their muffs 
and brought out their sun-bonnets. 
Leave it to me.” And before they 
could turn, Violet jumped out from 
under the warm earth covers, and was 
gone. 

“She surely is brave!” sighed Red 
Rose. “It must be splendid to have 
such courage! I will wait a while long¬ 
er,” and she crawled far into bed. 

“She is a wonder, but we will wait 
until she calls us,” said the rest, pull¬ 
ing up the covers, over their heads. 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


17 


“Yes,” said Mother Nature, who 
had been listening to them. “Violet 
is the bravest, sweetest, kindest one of 
all the Flower Family. And I think 
the Earth Children love her best of all, 
for she brings them the first messages 
of Spring. I can assure you Uncle 
Sun and I will not allow her to freeze.” 

And now, dear little ones, be sure to 
make Violet happy when you find her. 
I think she likes best of all to be taken 
to some shut-ins so that they may 
find in her the breath of the cool green 
woods. 




The Flowers’ Scare. 


Once upon a time, in their winter 
home, Under-the-Ground, the flowers 
had all settled down for a last Spring 
nap. Just as sometimes boys and 
girls turn over for a last nap after 
the sun has peeped in at the window. 
I said ALL the flowers had settled 
down—but there was one who had not. 
It was Violet. She had gone to look 
whether the birds had come back, and 
to see whether the Sun-bonnet babies 


18 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


19 


were out. At last, one by one, the 
rest awakened. My, but they were a 
lazy, drowsy lot! 

“Dear me,” said Red Rose, as she 
stretched herself, “I wish we had all 
come up when we were awake the first 
time.” 

“So do I,” answered Tulip. “I 
never feel good when I sleep late in the 
Spring.” 

“I am afraid I will not get to church 
in time to show my Easter bonnet,” 
said Hyacinth. 

“I do not want to be late for my 
wedding,” sighed Calla Lily. “My 
white satin dress is so rich and rare.” 




20 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


Suddenly Easter Lily looked about 
with a start. “Why, where is the 
baby?” she asked. 

“Our baby? Arbutus?” asked Red 
Rose. “Why, I don’t know. She 
was crawling around the room when 
Violet went out. Where can she be?” 

“Arbutus! Beauty!” called the 
flowers. “Traily, come here to your 
aunties. Don’t you hear them call¬ 
ing you?” 

“I think the little one crawled under 
Lily’s Bulb,” said Geranium. “She 
is always creeping around trying to 
get into mischief. There is no use in 
getting excited. You know she is 
here some place.” 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


21 


Nevertheless Geranium looked wor¬ 
ried. So did all the rest. Calla Lily 
forgot about her wedding; Hyacinth 
forgot about her Easter bonnet; Tulip 
forgot about her sleepiness; one and 
all hunted and hunted and hunted, 
but they could not find Arbutus. 

“Oh, where is our little baby!”the 
flowers cried. “If we only had not 
taken that nap, she never would have 
been lost!” 

“But where could she have gone?” 
questioned Daisy. “Why, the little 
midget cannot walk. She could not 
have crept far.” 

“Well,” said Buttercup. “Let us 
stop this foolish crying, and use sense. 




22 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


Was the door open? Might she have 
crept out?” 

“That’s it!” said Pansy, from her 
little corner of the earth-room. “I’ll 
venture to say Violet left that door 
open when she went out, and Traily 
has crawled after her. She is always 
following Violet.” 

“Oh, my!” shivered Red Rose. “She 
never could live in that cold biting 
air! Why, she is only a baby! The 
little pink and white darling! To 
think of her crawling over that cold 
earth after Violet!” 

“Wait,” said Hyacinth, as she pick¬ 
ed up a little root telephone, “I will 
ask Mother Nature if she has seen her. 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


23 


‘Hello—Hello, is this you, Mother 
Nature? This is the Flowers at Un- 
der-the-Ground. Have you seen our 



1 Wait ” Said Hyacinth, as She Picked Up a Little Root Telephone 


baby? Yes, I mean Arbutus. Yes, 
of course, Traily, with her pretty pink 
and white skin. ,We cannot find her. 
—Yes, that’s her. She cannot walk; 











24 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


just crawls every place. Have you seen 
her?’ ” Then for a long while the flow¬ 
ers waited eagerly. They could hear 
Hyacinth saying “Is it possible! Gan 
it be?” But her face was bright, so 
they knew it must be good news she 
was hearing. 

“Well,” they asked, as she hung 
up the receiver. “Where is she?” 

“Just as Pansy expected,” answered 
Hyacinth. “That youngster followed 
Violet. Mother Nature said she saw 
her start, but she thought a little cold 
air would do her good. She threw a 
green blanket over her, and pulled on 
her green, woolen stockings, and that 
youngster has crawled all over the 
dark, woody places of the earth after 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 25 


Violet. Up hill and down, under tree 
and bush. The Earth Children are 
wild about her. Uncle Sun says ‘Do 



Little Arbutus Wandered Away 


you think we will let a baby freeze?’ 
Jack Frost has been eager to kiss her 
cheek, but Mother Nature would not 
let him. She says he is too rough.” 

‘ ‘But how can we ever see her again?’ ’ 
sobbed Daisy. 











26 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“Go after her, of course,” answered 
Hyacinth. “We have been napping 
too long already. For one, I am 
ashamed of having let that baby go 
out before us. ” So saying, she pushed 
her way through the ground as fast as 
possible, with all the flowers following. 






Bugville Turned Out and Stood Along the Walk 

/ 

The Flowers’ Baby Show. 


Once upon a time the flowers in 
rden Bed Village were growing very 
i. The summer had been long, 
and they had played all the games 
they knew how to play. They hacj 

27 







28 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


given luncheons and tea-parties. They 
had taken baths each morning in the 
dew. They had watched the beauti¬ 
ful firefly balloons each evening. Now 
they wanted something new to do. 

“It is all very well for those flower 
friends of ours who have been taken 
away,” complained Daisy. “But 
what can we do?” 

“I will tell you,” said Pansy, who 
was always original, and thinking out 
new games. “Let us have a Baby 
Show. I have heard that the earth 
folk do that sometimes.” 

“Good!” said Heliotrope. “That 
will be splendid! We will all take our 
babies. Where Can we have the 
arade?” 




AUNT ESTE’S stories 


29 


“I have a beautiful, white walk to 
offer you, fair sister Flowers,” said 
White Elysium. “It reaches all 
around Garden-Bed Village. It is quite 
easy on the feet, and will make a splen¬ 
did parade ground.” 

“Oh, thank you!” said Pansy. 
“That will be a cool, safe place for the 
babies, as it is so near the Marigold 
fence. If one of the babies does get 
away, it cannot possibly climb over 
that. But who shall be the judges? I 
should like to trust flowers, but they 
might be partial to their own babies.” 

“I think,” said Red Rose, as she 
blushed, “I might ask my friends, the 
birds, to act as judges. The little tree 
over there at the edge of Garden-Bed 




30 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


Village would make a splendid judge’s 
stand. Robin is so fine looking in 
his gorgeous red vest, and his chirps 
are so musical. I am sure he and 
Blue Bird, and that handsome Mr. 
Woodpecker would do anything I 
would ask of them.” 

It did not take long to complete 
plans. The next morning the Flow¬ 
ers had their Baby Show. And such 
a show! It surely would keep the 
earth folk busy to show off a finer lot 
of babies. 

There were no nurse maids. Each 
mother wheeled her own baby down 
that Elysium walk; for each and every 
mother was so proud to own so fine a 
baby she would allow no one else to 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


31 


wheel it. Of course, at first, Red Rose 
had thought it a bit beneath her dig¬ 
nity to push a baby carriage in a 
parade. When she saw how very 
beautiful Raby Rosebud looked, wrap¬ 
ped in her green blanket, with her lacy 
little green veil drawn over her face, so 
that the sun might not hurt her eyes, 
she, too, was glad to push her baby 
around. 

All the little worms, and bees, and 
ants—in fact, all of Bugville—turned 
out and stood along the side-walk. 
I wish you might have heard the 
“ohs!” and “ahs!” as the parade passed 
by. 

“Oh, look! there is Baby Daisy! 
Isn’t she the whitest-skinned little dar- 




32 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


ling, and isn’t her little yellow cap set 
smartly on the middle of her head!” 

“My! Look at Reddy Geranium! 
She must just have been pulled from 
her nap! She is all red from crying!” 

“And hasn’t Baby Forget-me-not 
sparkling blue eyes!” 

So the bugs chatted as each passed 
by, and a butterfly, looking down from 
the tree-gallery, as she saw Baby For¬ 
get-me-not, sang: 

“Her beautiful eyes are so very blue, 

“I believe the sky came down on the dew, 

“And is living in them. For You! For You' 

Which was very clever of Butterfly. 
The worms thought so too, and they 
were very proud of him, for hadn’t he 
once crawled about in their company? 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


33 


“Well,” called Red Rose, when the 
parade had passed the judges stand, 
“Which is the prettiest?” 

And then those birds all flew to the 
ground saying, “Chirp, chirp, chirp,” 
as fast as they could. But the flowers 
could not understand. You see they 
had never once thought of the fact that 
birds and flowers talk a different lan¬ 
guage! They could not understand 
just as you would not understand a 
little one from a foreign country, who 
speaks a different language. So to 
this day each flower thinks it must 
have been her baby who took the prize, 
which I suppose was just what the 
Bird judges wanted. It seems to me 
they might at least have made Red 




34 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


Rose understand, but they talked their 
merry language because they wanted 
each mother to be happy, and they 
really had all been so pretty, it had 
been a hard matter to decide. I think 
perhaps if you and I were made judges 
at a Flower Baby Show, we might have 
the same trouble that the Bird Judges 
had deciding who won the prize. 




Easter Lily’s Sermon. 


Once upon a time in Hot-house City, 
Flowerland, little Hyacinth sat on her 
tiny green stool, talking to Tulip in a 
very earnest manner. 

“What is in the air,” said she. “I 
have never seen Mr. Gardener so care¬ 
ful of our Flower-pot Houses, nor so 
kind to us. He keeps our houses en¬ 
tirely free from weeds, and he gives 
us all the water we need. What is 
going to happen?” 

“Oh,” answered Calla Lily, “if you 
were an older resident of Hot-house 
City, you would know, my dear. Of 
course you have just come up from 

35 


36 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


your winter home, Under-the-Ground, 
so you cannot be expected to know as 
much as we do. My dear, Easter is 
coming.” 

“Easter?” asked Hyacinth. ‘What 
is Easter? A man? 

Calla Lily looked in wonder; Pink 
and Yellow Tulip hid their faces be¬ 
hind their green leaf fans; Red Tulip 
was surprised at such ignorance, while 
the Narcissus Children huddled close 
together and giggled and giggled. 

“Of course not!” shouted all the 
flowers. “Easter is a day!” 

“It is the day,” said Red Tulip, 
“we must look our best. I am so 































My Dear! Easter Is Coming 


* 



37 































38 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


proud when I am taken to church and 
placed before everyone, so that I may 
spread my red dress as far out, as it 
is possible to spread it.” 

“I shall not spread mine, this year,” 
answered Pink Tulip. “I mean to 
keep mine close about my body. Hy¬ 
acinth, you will be pretty with that 
bell trimming all over your gown. I 
will be surprised if you are not most 
beautiful. They so often sing about 
Bells in the Sunday School where I 
stand.” 

“The smaller flowers are quite rest¬ 
less!” said Calla Lily, with dignity. 
“Hyacinth, above all be dignified! If 
you would only copy after me, you 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


39 


will not fail to make an impression. 
I am so sedate in my gorgeous white 
satin gown. And this wee touch of 
yellow I wear on my breast gives my 
gown such an air of elegance.” 

“Dear me!” said Hyacinth. “Is 
that what Easter is for? To show off 
our clothes? I really thought all this 
fuss the gardener was making meant 
more than that.” 

“Oh, it is not all clothes,” said a 
tiny Paper-white Narcissus Mother. 
‘ ‘We have fun too. Why, my six little 
petal children are always seated 
around the dearest egg-cup, holding 
three tiny yellow eggs. To tell you the 
truth, Hyacinth,” she leaned over and 




40 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


whispered, “these flowers think of 
nothing but clothes. Now I am only 
too glad to be able to give pleasure to 
my babies, and forget myself. My 
babies are just like the earth children. 
Easter is a time for feasting with 
them.” 

Hyacinth wondered why so much 
should be made over Easter if it only 
meant fine clothes and lots to eat, 
when she heard a beautiful voice. 
She turned, and beheld the most gor¬ 
geous flower in all Hot-house City talk¬ 
ing to her. It was Easter Lily. 

“Dear Hyacinth,” she was saying, 
“Easter is not to show off our clothes. 
Easter is not to eat eggs. We are 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


41 


glad to have these things. I hope .you 
will not get this selfish spirit from our 
dear, little friends, so soon after you 
have left Mother Nature’s simple 
home, and have come to our Hot-house 
City. There seems to be a selfish spirit 
in this close air. Hyacinth, Easter 
is the day of rejoicing. Have you 
forgotten that, Calla? Have you for¬ 
gotten that, Tulip? Have you for¬ 
gotten that, Narcissus? What we 
are to do, is not to show off our new 
clothes, is not to be greedy and eat 
all day, but to BE GLAD and RE¬ 
JOICE first of all. We are supposed 
to wear our new clothes because every¬ 
thing became new on that day; we are 
supposed to eat eggs because an egg 




42 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


best shows how life comes from dark¬ 
ness. You know how the chicken 
bursts the shell and comes from the 
egg after being in there for so long. 
We are not to be proud and think 
only of ourselves and our pleasures, 
but to REJOICE and BE GLAD.” 

When Easter came they were glad 
and rejoiced because the Lily had told 
them what the day was for. 






Easter Is Not to Show Off Oar Clothes 


43 










Johnny Jump-up and Giant 
Sun-Flower. 


Once upon a time Johnny Jump- 
up’s mother was telling him a story 
about the Giant Flower. “Why, 
Johnny,” she said, “He is so big, you 
could not touch his ankles, for you 
measure but several inches, while he 
measures many feet.” 

“Oh, mother,” said Johnny. “Tell 
me some more. Is he fierce? Would 
he harm a little flower like me?” 

“I do not think he would hurt you, 
Johnny; neither do I think he would 
notice so small a creature. He is very 

44 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 45 



He Will Not Look North 


humble, however. He sometimes lives 
in the tiniest kind of a back yard He 
has a big yellow face, and wears a 
little brown cap on the middle of his 
head. He never looks in but one direc¬ 
tion, and that is south. Some flow¬ 
ers say he will not look north, because 
he does not like the mid-night sun; 
nor east nor west, because he is jealous 









46 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


of the day sun; so he looks south where 
he must look no sun in the face. You 
see he is a Sun-flower.” 

“Dear me!” sighed Johnny. “I 
wish I might see him before I die.” 

“That is impossible,” replied his 
mother. “Because he never can be 
seen until late in the year, when you 
are in your long sleep.” 

But Johnny was a boy. Moreover 
he was determined. He made up his 
mind that he would see that giant. 

So he hid away in the tall grass, and 
never made a sound. By and by all 
the family went off to sleep and forgot 
about him. 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


47 


It was hard for Johnny to live, but 
he drank sunshine and dew, and nap¬ 
ped on Aunty Dark’s breast each night 
so he managed to keep alive. 

My! but he saw sights! The most 
wonderful birds, and bees and butter¬ 
flies. And of all the crawling, buzzing 
busy creatures he asked but one ques¬ 
tion, “Where can I find Giant 
Sun-flower?” But each went on his way 
without a reply. 

One day a tiny winged creature 
stopped in front of the place where 
Johnny lived, and dug into the earth 
with its beak. It was tiny Mr. Wren, 
hunting worms for his little family, in 
the nest home, but Johnny thought it 
was a fairy. 




48 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“Kind fairy,” said Johnny, with a 
bow. “Can you tell me where I might 
find Giant Sun-flower? I have been 
hunting for him all of my life, and now 
I am growing old.” 

“I think I can,” answered Mr. 
Wren, who was much flattered at being 
taken for a fairy. ‘ ‘There is a chap by 
that name living in the little back yard 
beside my home. We all love him. 
The little chickens in the pen sing for 
him all the day long, for you know, 
when he dies, he leaves his wealth of 
sun-flower seeds for the chickens and 
the birds. Even the poll-parrot in 
the window, in the house, near by, 
sings all day “Polly wants a sun-flower 
seed.” The giant only smiles at all 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


49 


of us, for he will not leave his wealth 
until he dies. If you really wish to 
see him, I will carry you in my beak 
to my little nest home. You can sit 
on my front porch, and look straight 
into his face. That is really the only 
place you could possibly see his face, 
for he is so great and tall.” 

Poor Johnny Jump-up! He was so 
old and weak by this time that he 
nearly cried from joy. But his wish 
had come true! So he drank in a 
long breath of sunshine, and swallowed 
the drop of dew which was left in his 
cup from breakfast, as away he was 
carried in Mr. Wren’s beak. 

When he opened his eyes, he was 
seated on the lovely, branch piazza of 




50 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


the Wren home, and across the way, 
the most wonderful flower, all yellow 
like the sun, with a little brown cap set 
jauntily on the middle of his head, 
smiled at him, and in a deep voice said: 

“Johnny Jump-up, you are a brave 
little fellow, and I admire you very 
much. I am going to put you to sleep 
in my own arms. Mr. Wren, will you 
kindly toss the little fellow over to 
me?” Then before Johnny knew what 
was happening, he was being rocked 
to and fro, seated on the cap of Giant 
Sun-flower. 

And there, a happy little fellow, he 
closed his eyes for his last, long sleep. 




The Pink Roses of Bush 
House. 


Once upon a time, next door to a 
beautiful, white mansion, in which the 
Earth Folk dwelt, the Family Pink 
Rose, lived in their dear, little cottage, 
Bush House. 

It was a most complete Flower Cot¬ 
tage. It had beautiful green shutters, 
and quaint, thorn fire-escapes. In it 
lived Father Rose, a big, fat fellow, 
who always had his pink vest showing, 
so that every one might see his gold- 
watch seed-pocket. With him lived 

51 


52 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


Mother Rose, who wore her fluffy pink 
skirts fastened around her narrow 
waist with a green belt. Also, there 
was the eldest daughter, Pink Rose¬ 
bud, in her narrow Princess gown; the 
oldest son, little Bud Rosebud, a fun¬ 
ny, stubby fellow wearing a green cap; 
and last, but not least, a whole stem 
bed-room full of Baby Rosebuds, lying 
in little green cradles, with a lacy cur¬ 
tain drawn over each face. Oh, what 
a happy family they were in their dear 
little home. 

“I hope we may never have to leave 
our home or each other!” said Mother 
Rose one day. 

“Oh! Oh!” exclaimed Father Rose 
“If we always stayed at one spot we 





It Had Beautiful Green Shutters and a Quaint Thorn Fire Escape 


53 
















54 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


could never make anyone happy but 
ourselves. Besides you would not see 
the world. I should like you and the 
children to travel a bit. As for me, my 
time is about at an end. I must soon 
be folding up my seed-pocket, and 
blowing over the earth to make new 
Roses for next year. There is no joy 
in living but for a day.” 

No sooner had he said this, than off 
his pink vest flew, and he was gone. 
The family missed him of course, but 
they knew that he was happy, making 
Roses for next year, so they made up 
their minds to be glad. Mother Rose 
was left them, at least. 

But one day a beautiful lady passed 
the Bush House. “My!” said she, as 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


55 


she leaned over and smelled the per¬ 
fume Mother Rose always used. 
“What a fragrant Rose! It will look 
beautiful on my library table.” 

“Oh, dear!” sighed Mother Rose, as 
the Lady picked her, “I should love 
to see the World! But who will take 
care of the babies?” 

“Why, Mother!” exclaimed Miss 
Rosebud. “Don’t you think I can 
watch over them?” 

So all through the long day Rosebud 
kept house. That night a young man, 
passing Bush house, saw her. He ex¬ 
claimed, “What a wonderful Rosebud! 
I shall take it in to Mother.” 




56 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“I shall like to go!” said Rosebud, 
as the young man clipped her. “But I 
promised mother to watch the babies.” 

“Go along,” said Bud Rose, in a 
queer, thick voice, which sounded sort 
of tearful. “I am short and stubby 
and not of much account, but I sup¬ 
pose I can tell the children a few stories 
about Fairy Bees and Giant Wasps. 
You will have a good time in that 
white house. They were dancing in 
there last night.” 

So all through the long night he 
watched those dear, little babies in 
their green cradles. He was very gen¬ 
tle with them. But although he told 
stories and laughed, his heart was with 
his mother and sister in the white 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


57 


house. He was lonely but he kept 
saying over and over, “I will be cheer¬ 
ful and happy. I will never move from 
this spot until I grow to be a man like 
Father with a watch Seed Pocket.” 

The next morning a dear little girl 
came running up to the Bush House. 

“Oh, you dear, little Stubby Bud!” 
she said. “I am going to take you 
and all these darling baby Rosebuds 
in to Grandmother!” 

Before Bud could get his breath he 
and the babies were being clipped from 
their home, and being carried into a 
cool, and pleasant room, where they 
were put into a beautiful vase, filled 
with fresh water. 




58 AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 



I Am Going to Take You to My Grandmother 


Bud looked around to count the 
babies to be sure they were all there, 
when—guess what? In the very same 
vase, right beside him, were Mother 
Rose and Sister Rose-bud! 

Well, such a hugging time, you never 
saw! They could not get close enough 
together in that vase. They were so 












AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


59 


happy to think that they were all to¬ 
gether in such a beautiful place. It 
really seemed too good to be true. 

There they smiled so sweetly and 
cast their perfume so widely, that 
everyone in the big white house was 
happy. 





Pretty Red Flowers 

















































The Berries’ Race. 


Once upon a time eight little seed 
friends lived in Seed-store City. They 
were Strawberry Seed, Blackberry 
Seed, Raspberry Seed, Huckleberry 
Seed, Elderberry Seed, Currant Seed, 
Mulberry Seed and Gooseberry Seed. 

They looked so much alike that the 
Mayor of Seed-store City (some folks 
called him the store-keeper) had to 
mark each envelope house in which 
the different seeds lived, in order to 
tell them apart. 


61 


62 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


One day these little friends had a 
plan. They planned over who could 
win the race in giving berries to the 
earth folk. 

“I can win the race,” said Mulberry 
Seed. “I will be noticed first, because 
I make such a big tree, and grow such 
sweet berries.” 

“I don’t know,” said Gooseberry 
Seed. “Everyone will like my coat of 
many colors best.” 

“My shiny red one is prettier,” said 
Red-Currant. “Red is so bright it 
can be seen at a great distance.” 

“I am quite sure we will be noticed 
first,” said one of the Raspberry twins. 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


63 


“Everyone looks at us first because 
one has such black hair, and the other 
such red hair.” 

“Well,” said Strawberry Seed, “You 
all agree, don’t you, that the Seed who 
grows the first berry wins the race?” 

“We do.” One and all answered. 
“Now let us ask the Mayor of Seed- 
store City to give us a green field so we 
may begin to grow.” 

Some kind fairy must have whisper¬ 
ed this conversation to the store keeper, 
for the very next day, he gave the 
whole lot of little seed friends to a 
man, who took them away, and plant¬ 
ed them, one and all, in a beautiful 
green place, where they grew and grew 




64 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


and grew, each trying to have the first 
berry so that he might be the winner. 

“Dear me!” said Mulberry. “It 
takes long to grow a tree!” 

“Oh, dear!” said Currant and Rasp¬ 
berry and Blackberry and Huckle¬ 
berry seeds. “It takes so long to grow 
a bush. When can we ever be able 
to grow berries?” 

“Well, well,” laughed Mother Na¬ 
ture. “You little fellows forgot when 
you were talking about your fine 
houses, that a fine house cannot be 
built in a day.” 

There was one little seed, however, 
who said nothing. It was Strawberry 
Seed. He just pushed and pushed 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


65 


and grew a few leaves; then pushed 
some more and grew green berries; 
then pushed some more, and the green 
berries turned to pink and white, all 
covered with yellow polka dots. 

“Look at Strawberry Seed!” said 
the tiny bushes, and the little sprig of 
a Mulberry Tree, who although they 
had worked with all their might, had 
only a few leaves to show. “You don’t 
suppose that Strawberry Seed is grow¬ 
ing to be a real berry, do you?” 

Strawberry Seed only smiled, while 
she kept on pushing. One morning the 
bushes and the little Mulberry Sprig 
were awakened by a loud shout. 




66 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“I win! I grew the first berry!” 

It was the voice of Strawberry Seed; 
and, sure enough, when the bushes 
and the sprig looked around, there, 
before their eyes was the biggest, red¬ 
dest, juiciest strawberry, hanging to 
the little plant. 

“That is not a fine house, to be 
sure only a low rambling cottage,” 
they said, as they talked over Straw¬ 
berry’s victory. “Ours will be much 
finer when we get them finished. But 
Strawberry surely can grow berries 
quicker than we can. Let’s be good 
friends, and give three cheers for Straw¬ 
berry Seed.” 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


67 



The Red Juicy Strawberry 


So the Berry Bushes and the Mul¬ 
berry Twig leaned over and shook 
hands with the little strawberry plant, 
who had once been a seed, such as they 
had been, arid gave this cheer: 





68 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“One, two, three, 

“Hurrah, say we! 

“For the tiny—little Straw-ber-ry! 

“Though his house is small 
He can win from all, 

At growing a berry! 

Is he quite clever? 

Yes, very, very! 

“So one, two, three, 

“Hurrah! say we, 

“For dear little queer little Straw-ber-ry!” 

I hope dear little ones, whenever you 
play a game to win, you are willing to 
shake hands with the fellow who wins 
and give a cheer for him. 





This Is My Dear Cousin Gooseberry 

Reddy Currant and Her 
Country Cousin, 
Gooseberry. 


Once upon a time Reddy Currant 
was invited to a Berry Party. My, 
but she was glad! She sat in her 
shrub house in the beautiful city yard 
where she lived, eagerly waiting for her 
little friends, the Raspberry Twins, to 
come for her. 


69 



70 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


She was dressed from head to foot 
in red, except for a little yellow hair- 
ribbon which was tied in a tight knot, 
right in the middle of her head. She 
was so little, and fat, and roly-poly, 
she almost looked like an apple dump¬ 
ling, painted red. 

“Dear me!” she sighed, “I am so 
anxious to go, I can scarcely wait. 
Rowdy Huckleberry will be there, and 
Juicy Blackberry and dear little Straw¬ 
berry. Won’t we have a great time. 
I wonder whether Mother Nature will 
have the same things to eat which 
she had last year—fresh air salad, cool 
breeze sandwiches and iced dew in leaf 
cups? — Why don’t those children 
come?” 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


71 


“There is a rap at the door now,” 
said Mother Currant. “I suppose it 
is your friends.” 

Reddy quickly ran to the door. But 
when she opened it, instead of the 
Raspberry Twins, there stood—Guess 
who? Her poor little country Cousin, 
Gooseberry, dressed in an old dress. 
It looked exactly like a grandmother 
quilt, for it was striped yellow and 
green and red. To make matters 
worse her stem arms were all covered 
with prickles. If she had not been 
so countrified, she would have looked 
a bit like Reddy. One could at least 
tell they were cousins. 




72 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“How do?” said Gooseberry. “I 
came over to visit with you a little 
while yet! Are you glad to see me?” 

Now Reddy was very kind. She 
did not want to hurt Goosey’s feelings, 
so, although she was thinking “Dear 
me, how can I ever take her to that 
party? • The children will laugh at 
her,” she said with a smile “Surely I 
am glad to see you. You are just in 
time to go to a Berry party with me. 
It will be wonderful, Goosey! Danc¬ 
ing and eating and games! I am so 
glad you can go.” Then she thought 
to herself again, “That is not false. 

I mean it. I am glad Gooseberry can 
see something of city life.” 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


73 


“I am not going to be ashamed of 
her,” she continued to say to herself. 
“If those Berry Children make fun of 
her, I shall not dance with them, for 
she is my cousin.” 

“Dear me!” said Goosey, when she 
heard how fine the party was going 
to be. “I guess I will not go. I am 
so quiet and country like, I won’t 
know how to act.” 

“Oh, you will get along.”answered 
Reddy. “Just do as I do.” 

When the Raspberry Twins came 
for her, Reddy Currant, bowing very 
low, said, “This is my dear cousin, 
Gooseberry. Don’t mind the thorns 
on her arms. She is really quite sweet, 
and her dress is just the style where she 
came from.” 




74 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


The Raspberry Twins bowed low 
and said “Glad to meet you,” and off 
they started for the party. 

Such a party and such a good time! 
Of course at first little Rowdy Huckle¬ 
berry and some of the other boys, 
who always try to be a little smart, 
laughed at Goosey’s dress, and made 
fun of her— 

“Goosey, Goosey, big and juicy, 

Just came from the farm;” 

But the rest treated her lovely! 

She knew lots of good games to play 
such as ‘ ‘Berry Bush is breaking down, ’ ’ 
“Ring around a Berry,” and “Going 
to Juicy-town.” Reddy Currant was 
quite proud of her by the time the 
party was over. 




4 


* 



' • ' ■ ; 


. . 






\ 

L 

m 

Sk i k 



X\ 

5 



* 


V>S— - 




xV*# 


She Knew Lots of Good Games to Play 




75 





















76 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“Mother,” she said, that night, as 
she was being tucked into bed. “I 
am glad I made up my mind not to be 
ashamed of Goosey, and to take her 
with me. When the children thought 
I liked her, and was not ashamed of 
her, they all liked her too, and never 
thought of her country ways.” 

“I am glad you have learned that 
lesson, daughter dear. Never be 
ashamed of anyone. Sometimes the 
sweetest things are hidden behind the 
sharpest thorns and the queerest 
clothes.” 





Good Afternoon , Mrs. Raspberry 


The Raspberries Doctor. 


Once upon a time all Raspberry 
Village was very sad. There were no 
little Raspberry children out playing 
in the bush yards. Most of the green 
leaf curtains were drawn tight, for the 
Rerry Children were quite sick, and 
the Berry Mothers were much worried. 
On many of the Bush Houses, hung 

77 








78 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


signs like this: PLANT LICE — A 
CONTAGIOUS AND INFECTIOUS 
DISEASE. 

The Berry Mothers had done all 
they could do. They had sent out 
messages to Mother Earth for more 
nourishment, through their little root 
telephones, but none had come. They 
had prayed Uncle Sun to shine away 
the pest, but that did no good. They 
had prayed to Uncle Wind to blow 
the lice from their Bush Houses, but 
that did no good. The disease stayed, 
and the Berry Children grew worse 
each day, until their little seed bones 
showed like those of famine children. 

The disease was spreading. At first 
it had only been in one Bush House, 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


79 


now it was in almost every house in 
the village. The little Raspberries 
were afraid to peep from behind the 
leaf shutters, and they were very un¬ 
happy. 

“Dear me!” said Blacky Raspberry, 
“I am afraid we will not get to the 
candy shop to sit on top of Sundae 
glasses! I love to look around at the 
styles and hear the piano. If we stay 
so sick and seedy the farmer will not 
take us.” 

“I wanted to be put into a freezer 
and be churned into a sherbet!” said 
Reddy Raspberry. “I love to see 
every one smile when I come to a party 
in that style.” 




80 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“If I only could be baked into a large 
pie like my aunts and uncles were last 
year, I would be perfectly happy.” 
said another little thin faced black 
one. “They were buried beneath 
sugar when they were baked, swim¬ 
ming in a pool of juice. That would 
be great!” 

“Well, you can just make up your 
mind, if this disease keeps spreading,” 
said their mothers, “there will be no 
city for you this summer. These 
plant lice are dreadful. Just listen to 
the poor babies crying. It is a shame 
the way they itch.” 

Now one day a queer looking 
stranger came into the village. She 
hopped up to each house, and read the 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


81 


sign on the door. Then she shook 
her head until it nearly dropped off. 
“About time I am getting to work 
here,” she said, as she walked into one 
of the Bush Houses. 

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Raspberry,” 
she said. “May I have a place to lay 
eggs in one of your stem-bedrooms? 
My name is Snowy Tree Cricket.” 

“I do not think we have any room 
for eggs around here,” said Mother 
Raspberry. “We have a disease called 
Plant Lice. Your eggs might become 
infected. You had better go away.” 

But Snowy Tree Cricket only smiled. 
She laid her eggs in the house just the 
same, but that was not all. She got 
to work in her spare moments, and 




82 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


before they could say Jack Robinson, 
she had cleared that house of all those 
Plant Lice. She just ate them up! 

All the babies began to be happy and 
black and juicy again. Mother Rasp¬ 
berry did not like to have eggs lying 
all over her house, but she was so 
glad to have her babies well again, she 
gave her the freedom of the house. 

And when that house was clear of 
Plant Lice she went to the next door 
neighbor and did the same thing. And 
from that house to the next, and all 
over the village, laid eggs in each house 
and ate up the Lice. The Village 
Raspberry folk called her Dr. Snowy 
Tree Cricket, and the children called 
her Dr. Cricket for short. 





They Found This Sign 


83 
















84 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


After a while all the signs disappear¬ 
ed from the doors. The children were 
all so fat and black and juicy and it 
was time for the farmer to pick them 
and take them to town. Then they 
decided to give Dr. Snowy Tree Cricket 
a party. But when they came to look 
for her she was gone, and on the last 
Bush House in the village -they found 
this sign: 

“When the Plant Lice go, why so do I, 

“I live on that which makes you die; 

“I ate those Lice, both great and small, 

“So I’m leaving now, goodbye to all.” 

“To think of anyone eating Plant 
Lice! My, that makes me shiver!” 
said Black Raspberry. 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


85 


“It doesn’t matter to me what she 
did with them, so long as I do not 
have any around.” said Reddy. “All 
I want is that ice-cream freezer.” 

“All I want is the Soda glass!” said 
Blacky. “You may have your ice¬ 
cream freezer and pies with pools of 
juice! I like to hear that piano.’ ’ 

So thanks to Dr. Snowy Tree Cricket 
they all got well. Wouldn’t it be fun¬ 
ny if our doctors cured us like this? 




The Three Obliging Little 
Berries. 

Once upon a time some little Black¬ 
berries were growing up in the country. 
Each family lived in its separate Bush 
House, where the children played on 
the porches. My! but they did have 
good times! 

But before the summer had ended 
nearly all the little Blackberry boys 
and girls had been picked and thrown 
into big buckets, after which they had 
been packed into pretty little boxes, 
and sent away in autos. 

The little ones that were left had no 
idea where they had gone. They had 

86 



Here Comes Three Little Girls. 


They Will Eat Us 



87 


Ml " • ' O ■ i ■ ■ ■ 























88 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


waved their black hands goodbye, as 
the farmer had started off, to the few 
blackberries they could see sitting on 
the top of the boxes, but that was all 
they knew. 

“Dear me!” one sighed. “It must 
be nice to go out into the world.” 

Now there were only six little black¬ 
berries left; three living in one little 
Bush House, and three in another. But 
they were very different. The three in 
the first little Bush House were dis¬ 
agreeable because they thought only 
of themselves. Their names were 
Dried-Up, Shrively and Seedy Black¬ 
berry. One day as they sat on their 
porch Shrively suddenly remarked: 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


89 


“Dear me, here come three little 
girls. They will eat us. I do not 
want to be eaten, do you?” 

“No!” said Seedy. “I do not.” 

“Let us hide!” suggested Dried-up. 

“They cannot find us then.” 

So all three of the disobliging, little 
Berries hid behind a green leaf shutter, 
just as three beautiful little girls walked 
up to the Bush House. 

“This is a blackberry bush,” said 
one. “There must be some berries 
here.” 

They looked and looked and could 
not find one berry. They never 
thought of looking behind the leaf 
shutter, of course. They were quite 
disappointed as they walked on. 




90 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


Now on the next bush lived the three 
obliging berries, Puffy, Blacky and 
Juicy. They saw the little girls com¬ 
ing, too, but they did not hide! Oh, 
no, they did not! 

“I think,” said Puffy. “Blackberries 
were made to be eaten, were they not? 
Now if we must be eaten, by whom 
would you rather be eaten? By a 
great big man?” 

“Oh, no!” cried Juicy and Blacky. 

“By a beautiful lady?” again ques¬ 
tioned Puffy. 

“Oh, no, no, no!” again shouted the 
other two. 

“By a cute, fat, little boy?” laughed 
Puffy. 

“NO! NO! NO! NO!” they said. 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


91 


“Well, then, by a pretty little girl?” 
laughed Puffy. 

“Yes, indeed, oh, yes, indeed!” 
cried the other two. 

“Well, here come three,” said Puffy. 
“Let us look our prettiest.” So they 
sat down upon their leaf porches smil¬ 
ing as broad a smile as it is possible 
for a blackberry to smile. 

“Oh, look here!” cried the little 
girls when they spied them. “Here 
are three beautiful blackberries, just 
like Father said we would find! Oh! 
I never saw such beauties! Let us 
take them home, and show Father 
how pretty and fat and black they 
are. Then we will dip them in pow¬ 
dered sugar and eat them for supper.” 




92 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


So off the bush they picked the little 
Blackberries. My! Those berries 
were happy! They puffed up with 
pride when the little girls stepped into 
a big auto and were driven away by a 
chauffeur in livery. Just think of be¬ 
ing driven to a city in an auto, each 
held by one of the prettiest little girls 
ever seen! Just think of being dipped 
in powdered sugar, and then placed in 
a rose-bud mouth! 

“What a glorious end!” whispered 
Puffy. 

Poor Seedy and Shrively and Dried- 
up watched the auto drive away, and 
then, from being selfish fell from their 
bush home, laid on the ground, dried 
up and blew away! 











vi'-; 

. . 


l: ••• 


. 

Vv:-'* 




HB 


They Dried Up and Blew Away 












The Tale of the Mulberry 
Tree. 


The summer was nearly over. Good 
old Mother Nature was tired growing 
flowers and vegetables and berries for 
the earth folk; she was tired growing 
grass and fodder for the animals; she 
was tired growing wheat for the baker 
to use in making bread for the chil¬ 
dren; she was tired asking Uncle Sun 
to send his little son, Summer Breeze, 
to cool the aching heads of people and 
animals and vegetables and flowers; 
she was tired coaxing Mother Cloud 
to send down her rain children so that 


94 



Then the Little Elderberry 
Children Coaxed for a Story 


95 





















96 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


all her earth children might live, so, 
one night, when the little Elderberry 
Children coaxed for a story, she just 
refused to tell them one. 

“If you children knew how tired I 
am,” she said, “you would not ask 
for a story. I simply cannot think! 
Please let me rest.” 

But the little Elderberry Children 
were very much disappointed. Biggey 
Mulberry tree was sorry for them, and 
leaned over and offered to tell them 
a story. 

Now the little Elderberry Children 
knew no one could tell a story like 
Mother Nature, but a story was a 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


97 


story, and so they huddled together 
to hear the tale Biggey Mulberry would 
tell. 

And that is how, one evening, little 
Summer Breeze, working for Uncle 
Wind, carried this tale from the big 
mouth of the Mulberry Tree to the 
little ears of the Elderberry Children. 

“Listen,” said the voice, “Listen, 
my children and you shall hear, of all 
of my family, far and near. Although 
you have known me for years, dear 
children, you have never known from 
what a wonderful family I come. 

“I will first tell you of relatives in 
far away lands. Have you ever seen 
beautifully dressed ladies who rustle 
more in their silk dresses than I can 




98 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


rustle in my leaves? Have you ever 
thought how it is that they can have 
all these silk dresses? Do you know 
that they get them from worms?— 
silk worms? Do you know what helps 
keep these silk worms alive? I sup¬ 
pose you have never thought of that, 
being so small. It is the leaves from 
my sister White Mulberry Tree, who 
lives in that great country China. 

“Do you know that my brother, 
Paper Mulberry Tree is greatly loved 
in that other queer, wonderful country 
near China—Japan? Do you know 
that they use his bark trousers to 
make paper, and his wood body to 
make ornamental boxes? Do you 
know that my cousins are known by 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


99 


all the rulers of Europe? Of course 
you have lived beside me long enough 
to know that I live to be very, very 
old—you have heard your great grand¬ 
mothers telling that their great grand¬ 
mothers knew me when they were little 
girls. 

“You know how sweet my Berry 
children are, and how they are sought 
by many boys who knock them down 
with sticks. Dear Elderberry Chil¬ 
dren, I have held my beautiful leaf 
sun-umbrella over dozens of children 
at one time as they played tea-party; 
I have sheltered as many boys and 
girls when it rained as you have Berry 
Children in your whole house, just by 
holding out my arms above them. 





100 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“Above all, dear little ones, I can 
trace my family back to the time when 
the world was new, for my ancestors 
are mentioned in the Great Book. Yes, 
my Berry children are the only Berry 
children mentioned in the Bible—the 
B-I-B-L-E.” 

The last words trailed off into a low 
whisper. The Great Mulberry Tree 
was fast asleep. Mother Nature took 
time to whisper to the Elderberry Chil¬ 
dren: “Told you something to think 
about, didn’t she?” 

“Oh, I suppose she did!” said little 
Rowdy Elderberry, who was always 
hanging on the thinnest stem he could 
find, and doing stunts of all kinds. 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


101 


“But we wanted a story. We did not 
want a history lesson, and a sermon 
all in one.” 

“You must learn to like those kind 
of stories as well as funny ones, and 
ones of adventure.” said Mother Na¬ 
ture. 

“Oh, yes, we want to learn things 
about the world!” the other Berries 
whispered. “Biggey Mulberry surely 
must have a wonderful family. So 
many relations in other countries. We 
will try to remember all she told us.” 

“We will try, w-e w-i-1-1 t-r-y!” and 
the little Elderberry Children had join¬ 
ed the Big Mulberry Tree in the land 
of Nod. 




102 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


“Dear Children!” said Mother Na¬ 
ture when they were all fast asleep, and 
she went around to see them in bed. 
“I shall have to tell them something 
real jolly to-morrow night. But it 
will do them good to hear stories like 
that quite often.” 













103 


» 






















She Sat Darning Her Thousand Pairs of Stockings 

The Old Woman Who 
Lived On a Stem. 

Once upon a time in Berrytown, 
Mountain Land, lived old Mother 
Elderberry. She was a very busy old 
woman. 

Of course you have all heard the 
little rhyme: 

“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, 
“She had so many children she did not know what 
to do.” 


104 









AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


105 


It was the same with old Mother 
Elderberry. She had more children 
than any woman in Berrytown, and it 
was impossible to keep them neat and 
clean like the other children. 

The little Raspberry children always 
looked so neat in their red and black 
rompers. They sat prim and proper 
on their leaf porches, while Mrs. Rasp¬ 
berry sewed with her thorn needle. 
Mrs. Blackberry’s children were so tan¬ 
ned, and clean looking, while Mrs. 
Blackberry herself was such a good 
housekeeper; and the Strawberry chil¬ 
dren wore such neat little red. calico 
aprons, and were spotless. 

Mrs. Currant and Mrs. Huckle¬ 
berry had quite a number of children 




106 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


too, but they did not crowd their 
homes as the Elderberry Children did, 
and they were not so little and bitter. 
Why, each of Mrs. Elderberry’s bed¬ 
rooms were so crowded with children 
there was no room to turn. Even the 
tiny alcoves were full! Poor Mrs. El¬ 
derberry did not know what to do. 

No one seemed to want her children. 
The other berries were quite popular. 
The little children, and grown-ups as 
well, wanted them at their parties for 
sundaes and sherbets and short-cakes, 
and, just as they were, with powdered 
sugar; but no one ever wanted one of 
the Elderberry Children. 

“No one wants my children!” sighed 
Mrs. Elderberry, as she sat darning 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


107 


her one thousand pairs of black stock¬ 
ings. “They are too tiny and bitter. 
I guess they will never be of any use in 
this world.” 

But as she was darning, her head 
nodded. Soon she was asleep, and 
while she slept, she dreamed a dream. 

On a big shelf, in a dark cellar, she 
saw hundreds of white glass houses, 
and in each of these glass-jar homes 
lived tiny people. 

First she saw a jar of soft mashed up 
looking creatures. 

“Hello, Mother Elderberry,” they 
said. “Don’t you know us?” 

“Why what a surprise!” she said, 
“If there are not some of the Straw- 




108 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


berry Children! You look so pale I 
did not know you.” 

“Yes,” they replied. “We don’t 
like it at all down here. We feel so 
funny. No one likes us put up like 
this. Over there are some more chil¬ 
dren you know. There are some of the 
Raspberry Children. They do not 
look as bad as we do, but they are 
kind of sick looking too. Then there 
are some Blackberry Children. They 
look very good down here, don’t they? 
But look over in that corner. Do you 
know any of those?” 

Mother Elderberry looked, and — 
guess what? She saw a whole thou¬ 
sand of her own little children, with no 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


109 


stems, floating around in a shiny glass 
house; their eyes were sparkling, and 
their skins shone. 

“This is great!” they cried, when 
they saw their mother. “This is bet¬ 
ter than living on such crowded stems. 
You should see how the little boys 
and girls laugh when the cook bakes 
us into pies. Up there are a lot more 
of our brothers in little glasses covered 
with paraffin. You will not know 
them for they are all mashed into a 
jelly, but if you had heard them shout 
for joy when they were cooked in 
sugar, you would be quite happy. No¬ 
body turns away from us any more. 
I heard somebody say the other day, 




110 


AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


‘Elderberries are no good when they 
are on the bush, but are very fine when 
they are cooked’!” 

I wish you had seen Mother Elder¬ 
berry smile in her sleep. Her head 
just nodded, and nodded, and 
n-o-d-d-e-d until with a start, she 
awoke. There in her lap were the 
stockings undarned; there on the bush 
hung the thousands of little babies, 
all crying for something to eat; there 
were her stem rooms, full, full, full— 
there was nothing anywhere but chil¬ 
dren and leaf toys! 

♦ 

“Dear! Dear!” she said. “I must 
get to work! But since I know my 
children are really of some good in the 




AUNT ESTE’S STORIES 


111 


world, and make people happy, I don’t 
care how hard I must work. I really 
am glad— 

“I am an old woman who lives on a stem, 

“With children and children, just thousands of 
them! 

“I will work until the market man takes them to 
sell, 

“Where in winter the earth folk will enjoy them 
well.” 


FINIS 




ALBERT WHITMAN’S 
EASY READING JUVENILE LIBRARY 
“JUST RIGHT BOOKS” 

Profusely illustrated in colors; reinforced cloth binding; 
printed in large type on fine paper; jackets in color; 
price each, 60 c. 


The Tiddly Winks 
Surprise Stories 
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Washington’s Boyhood 
Comical Circus Stories 
Real Out-of-Door Stories 
Fifty Funny Animal Tales 
In and Out-Door Playgames 
Child’s Garden of Verses 
The Treasure Twins 


Open Air Stories 
Gingerbread Boy 
Doll Land Stories 
Tale of Curly Tail 
Reading Time Stories 
Knowledge Primer Games 
Jolly Polly and Curly Tail 
Flower and Berry Babies 
Little Boy France 
Busy Fingers Drawing Primer 


Happy Manikin in Manners Town 
The Vegetable and Fruit Children 
The Dinner That Was Always There 
Six Tiddly Winks and the A to Zees 


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